E-flow are incompetent

dlofnep

I don't know how many times these morons have screwed up. It seems, anytime I thought their their tolls, they bill me wrongly.

Last month, they double-charged me and I had to ring up to correct it. 3 months ago, they double charged me again and had to ring up.

Now, they've given me a bill for €47.50, claiming I didn't pay for my toll 2 weeks ago - but I paid it straight away online. It seems I can't go through that feckin' toll without them fecking something up.

So annoying.

Anybody else have issues with Eflow?

L1011

They're still not charging me for my personal car (which has a tag!) at all... somehow stopped in November. Van on the same tag account (diff. tag though) is charged.

So yes, I've issues. Good ones

dlofnep

Just called them there - didn't know they were open this late. Said that it they could see the payment went through, but that it wasn't closed off on their side. They'd want to sort that thing out. I've yet to have had a trouble-free experience with them on any journey.

dlofnep

MYOB wrote: »

They're still not charging me for my personal car (which has a tag!) at all... somehow stopped in November. Van on the same tag account (diff. tag though) is charged.

So yes, I've issues. Good ones

lol - glad to hear it

carlmango11

What is it about the Irish that we just can't seem to get anything non-primitive to function properly :(:(:(:(

mick_ser

they make so many mistakes it is ridiculous! i don't use the tunnel frequently but yet whenever i do pass through it there always seems to be a problem and i have to ring them up to sort it...

xshayx

A few weeks ago I went to London. Drove to the airport using M50 "motorway". So I get to London, log on to the eflow website and pay the €3.

2 weeks go by and I get home, and this evening I decide to go through my post. "Standard Toll Request" €3 toll and €3 fine. I try ringing them, on hold, on hold, on hold, on hold, so I click "email eflow", same page as listed on their fine notice to me "http://eflow.ie/form_contact/" and get "Parent Directory Listing".

So I decide to pay this just to get it out of the way as I am going away again on Monday - I will NOT be using the M50! Its not now €6, theres an additional charge of €41.50. So I get to pay €47.50 to drive at 60KMs, through a building site.

eFlow is an absolute joke.

Mimikyu

This post has been deleted.

mikew1985

MYOB wrote: »

They're still not charging me for my personal car (which has a tag!) at all... somehow stopped in November. Van on the same tag account (diff. tag though) is charged.

So yes, I've issues. Good ones

:eek: I'm in the same boat, but I'm just after buying a new car and fear I will have to start paying as I have to register a new tag.

I haven't payed them a penny since November and I'm quite used to it now! I want to avoid it but I have to use it twice a day so I think I'll have to bite the bullet:(. Stupid lovely new car...

Scorpio Girl

i passed through the toll twice on 3rd May, forgot about paying so on Monday I went onto website to see was there any way I could pay without letter from eflow. I couldn't find anything so said I'd wait until thing came in post.

It came today saying I owed €6 which was fine, i logged onto pay it and low and behold i'm now being charged € 95. It says on letter that you have 14 days to pay from date of letter. Letter dated the 5th May which meant I had until yesterday to pay it. I didn't receive letter until today so couldn't pay it before today.

Envelope isn't post marked or franked.

Just wondering has this happened to anyone else?

G_R

i must be the only person in the country who has not had an issue with them.

every time i use the toll i pay in a Payzone outlet or online and its always fine.

once i paid it at half 8 (sposed to be paid by 8). i said i'd wait and see what happens. i get a letter in the post a few days later for €12 (2 x €3 tolls; 2 x €3 fine). I had already paid the €6 for the toll so i wasnt paying it again. I rang the e-flow call centre, explained the situation and he said fine and changed the amount i owed to only €6 which i then paid by laser. the guy was very helpful.

i must just be lucky:D

westtip

xshayx wrote: »

A few weeks ago I went to London. Drove to the airport using M50 "motorway". So I get to London, log on to the eflow website and pay the €3.

2 weeks go by and I get home, and this evening I decide to go through my post. "Standard Toll Request" €3 toll and €3 fine. I try ringing them, on hold, on hold, on hold, on hold, so I click "email eflow", same page as listed on their fine notice to me "http://eflow.ie/form_contact/" and get "Parent Directory Listing".

So I decide to pay this just to get it out of the way as I am going away again on Monday - I will NOT be using the M50! Its not now €6, theres an additional charge of €41.50. So I get to pay €47.50 to drive at 60KMs, through a building site.

eFlow is an absolute joke.

There are loads of cases like this - on the occassions I use the M50 - not that often as I live in the West, I have paid on line three times - twice before the great event and once within 24 hours afterwards - on each occasion i have got a letter requesting an addtional payment - then one day I got a letter for a time when I was sitting at my PC here in the West of Ireland and my car was parked out the front of the house. I asked them what they were playing at - the Young man on the phone said "oh that must be a case of a number plate misreading" what do you mean I said - he replied "When we can't quite make the number plate out we take a guess at it and send a bill the plate holder we think it is" If it wasn't Ireland it couldn't be true.

Now if I get a letter from them about any tolls (which I have paid) and they claim I haven't I just send a copy of the e-toll receipt and the letter to Noel Dempsey, with a hand written note scribbled on it and ask him to deal with these incompetent W****rs and open copy the letter to e-toll marked FAO the CEO. I find I don't hear from them again.

Minister Dempsey just writes back saying the matter is being looked into - I presume it gets lost by the benchmarked civil servants.

If you want to actually let West on Track know your views on the WRC then register them on their you tube site http://www.youtube.com/user/westernrail if they actually see what people think it might wake them up.

dcr22B

I've an account with them as well (took over my brother's account after he went to Oz but I'm using his car). Changed the billing details from credit card to current account for direct debit purposes and hadn't been deducted anything until I rang them last week and demanded that they take some money off as I didn't want to be stung with a huge one off deduction from my bank account so they took a nominal amount of €100.

Lo and behold, I look at my bank statement and they've deducted a further €200 even though I know my overall balance to be €220 so they should've only deducted €120.

Looks like I'll be putting in a phone call tonight!

Alun

dannym08 wrote: »

i must be the only person in the country who has not had an issue with them.
...

i must just be lucky:D

No, you're not. It's a generally recognised rule of the Interweb that 99% of all comments you find witha bit of Googling on a company or service are negative ones. People who are just generally satisfied (rather than ravingly enthusiastic) about a service usually don't go online specifically to make that point.

I have a video account set up virtually on day 1, and apart from two small mistakes (a journey I didn't make and a mis-charge as a commercial vehicle) that were corrected reasonably promptly, I've had no issues with them.

dcr22B

Just contacted E-flow and they sorted it out in record time. They basically have unlocked my account and billed me for €302.75 for transactions of €251.85 (the balance of my account at present) so now I've got a credit of €50.90

In most cases, their problems seem to be when payment details change on an account.

Tyrant^

eflow.ie is down at the moment...:rolleyes:

mathie

<crawls out from under rock>

When did the toll go from 2 to 3 euro?!

Zoney

I don't believe there is a single company in Ireland I'd trust with direct debit, nor indeed any bank I'd trust to stick to the rules such as they are. It's a small inconvenience to pay things manually compared to ineptly run companies/banks grabbing money out of your account.

mathie

mathie wrote: »

<crawls out from under rock>

When did the toll go from 2 to 3 euro?!

Anyone?

jkgvfg

mathie wrote: »

Anyone?

In August 2008 - when the toll booths were removed. The toll stayed at E2 for tag registered vehicles, E2.50 for video reg and E3 for pay as you go.

After months of problems with eflow, and E147 of fines still in dispute (I'm awaiting calls from our Kerry friends) I haven't had any problems with them for a few weeks now. Either they are improving or doing less about things!

brav

jkgvfg wrote: »

After months of problems with eflow, and E147 of fines still in dispute (I'm awaiting calls from our Kerry friends) I haven't had any problems with them for a few weeks now. Either they are improving or doing less about things!

I think they dropped BetFlow or whatever because of the complaints and now the call centre has been moved to Abtran in Cork,

L1011

brav wrote: »

I think they dropped BetFlow or whatever because of the complaints and now the call centre has been moved to Abtran in Cork,

BetEire Flow are still there, its them that have taken on Abtran as a simultaneous operator of their outsourced services to see if they're better than the crowd in Newry.

Our man in Havana

Still not a sign of a court case yet.

RRoger

thought I'd share my experiences...
I used the premium M50 part three times, once last year, paid within 24h online, kept getting letters with penalty fees but eventually sorted that out.

So when I used it twice in row few weeks ago I decided to pay over the ph. for a change and I made sure I'm calling from my work landline where I can have a trace of it. I rang, paid with my cr. card, been given two reference numbers, took the guy's name etc. just in case....Murphy's law.

...then...

....few days later....

Of course I found two letters with penalty fees! (surprise surprise...)

I rang back, told them the details of my earlier ph call, the agent's name, time, date, ref numbers, everything. Guess what - NO SIGN OF ME PAYING IN THE SYSTEM..:O

They say they record ph calls, so I asked them to dig this one up in the system and rang the next day. Again, NO TRACK OF MY TRANSACTION< you must pay, sir.

Got back to work, dug in the logs from my ph. system showing my ph call at the given time & date, the number from/to etc.

...then again...

...few beautiful days later....

...wait..

YES!, you're guessing right! I received the other two letters, now €47.5 each and a request of immediate payment.

So I sent them a letter, giving all details times, names, everything, also log from my phone system with my ph. call highlighted +cr. card printout showing my fees paid (helllo...!)

Got the response back:

"We regret to inform (...) we looked into the case (...) and the you must pay blah blah... based on the following evidence:

No transaction found in the system.


Please pay the fees immidiately without further delay.
Your eFlaw Customer Centre



NOT IN THE SYSTEM = NEVER HAPPENED (!!!)

Great system that is! I bet they get 100 cases like this a day and don't have time to listen to the recordings....
I am prepared to end up in court where I'm convinced the judge will laugh them in the face, but I've other concern - who's gonna pay for my day off??
Have anybody ever tried suing e-Flaw to get the money for the wasted time back?



Friendly advice:
Before you ring one of these companies to pay your fees, make sure you have met the following:

- call from a phone you can have an evidence of (ie. work)
- if have a dictaphone, use it to record it the conversation (most of mobiles have such function)
- take the agent's full name, note the time, date, bra's size, anything to help identifying her/him
- ring your bank and ask if the transaction went through
- collect any further correspondence and the details of ppl you deal with
- pray!







//the name of the company has intentionally been changed as we're in public here. Guess you can figure it out yerselves!//

MOH

They sent a letter to my gf's home address for her father, looking for money for a toll.

She rang them and explained that:
a) the car hadn't been through the toll on that date
b) the car had in fact never been east of Longford
c) her father had been dead for almost a year.

They then sent a further letter out saying that "after discussing the case with you" and investigating it they accept that there was an error and the toll doesn't need to be paid.

They addressed the letter to her father.

Shower of muppets.

markpb

MOH wrote: »

They then sent a further letter out saying that "after discussing the case with you" and investigating it they accept that there was an error and the toll doesn't need to be paid. They addressed the letter to her father. Shower of muppets.

In the grand scheme of things, that's not such a huge mistake. They get the registered owner of the car from the DoT and their computer system addresses all correspondence to that person and address. The person in the call-centre just updated the file, marked it as closed and the system automatically sent out another letter to the same address. They probably don't have the ability to update the name and address since the owner is meant to do that through the DoT.

Perhaps a better question would be why DoT think your girlfriend's car is still registered to her father?

dlofnep

Just an update - they sent me out a further bill, I called them up and they said they I'd have to pay for the journey again, even though I had already paid. He said there was 12 euro on my account but that he couldn't take it off the account, and that I could use it for future journeys.

I just couldn't be bothered with the whole thing, payed the fee AGAIN. this was all about 2 or 3 weeks back. Just remembered I posted this thread here now.

westtip

dlofnep wrote: »

Just an update - they sent me out a further bill, I called them up and they said they I'd have to pay for the journey again, even though I had already paid. He said there was 12 euro on my account but that he couldn't take it off the account, and that I could use it for future journeys.

I just couldn't be bothered with the whole thing, payed the fee AGAIN. this was all about 2 or 3 weeks back. Just remembered I posted this thread here now.

you're mad to have paid it - - if you have paid the toll in the normal fashion and above board - and have documentary evidence hold onto it - let them keep writing to you - and let them take you to court - you are under no obligation to even respond to their letters if you have paid the toll, when and if you get a summons to go to court represent yourself (no need to pay a solic for such a simple case) take your evidence with you lodge it with the clerk of the court and just enter the dock and tell the Distirct Court judge the circumstances - they will strike it out - you could even try just sending a sworn affidavit with the evidence submitted to the court in your absence - to write a sworn affidavit you don't need a solic. Just write it up and get it endorsed by a commissioner for oaths - this should cost about a tenner, send it to the clerk of the court with a covering letter to the presiding judge explain the evidence and the incompetence of e-flow and the fact you cannot get a day off to attend court - the judicial system at District court level is not that officious -representing yourself is easy and is a citizens right - If you do go yourself ask the judge for a motion of costs and ask for at least 500 Euro for your day out of work and work involved in defending your case. - a few cases like this nad they won't be in such a hurry to pursue people for money they have paid. IN fact next time this happens to me (three times so far) I have decided this is the course of action I am going to take.

dlofnep

I normally would have, but I was just sick and tired of the whole thing and didn't want to keep ringing them. I have credit on my account now, so I can driveup to dublin this weekend without worrying about it.

Still, it's crap service. I'm not going to blame the agents, but the structure in place.

Gunth

Are eflow aware that they are destroying whatever is left of our rainforests!

shamwari

My wife used the M50 on several occasions earlier this year. She paid the tolls in our local convenience store and kept all of her receipts. Shortly thereafter, she received several demands from EFLOW to make good unpaid charges. Both my wife and I telephoned EFLOW twice and walked them through the sequence of charges and payments to indicate that everything was indeed paid. Despite this they persisted in issuing written demands for payment of these so-called "unpaid charges".

My wife then set out her position in writing in full to them and enclosed photocopies of the receipts. She stressed that we wanted them to explain clearly where they believed the non-payment existed, and that is was her firm belief that all charges has been paid, and that receipts proved this.

A week after this, she received a terse two-line reply which noted the continued non-payment and the matter had been passed to EFLOW's "legal department".

We look forward to having our day in court with this shower because their total ineptitude and total lack of diligence needs to be exposed for all to see. The maverick one-sided behaviour of these organisations needs to stop.

MOH

markpb wrote: »

In the grand scheme of things, that's not such a huge mistake. They get the registered owner of the car from the DoT and their computer system addresses all correspondence to that person and address. The person in the call-centre just updated the file, marked it as closed and the system automatically sent out another letter to the same address. They probably don't have the ability to update the name and address since the owner is meant to do that through the DoT.

Perhaps a better question would be why DoT think your girlfriend's car is still registered to her father?

That's on the list to do.

While I can understand that to some extent, any computerised e-mail system like this should have some facility for noting a person is deceased and not send automated letters addressed to them. Though given the state of the e-flow system, it's hardly surprising that's lacking.

The whole point is moot anyway - the original letter should never have been sent, since the car was never near Dublin. E-flow seem to be able to make up reg numbers/ignore payments, sent letters demanding more money, and the onus is on the recipient to prove that they didn't use the toll road. It's insane. At the very least, e-flow should include with their extortion claim the picture that they're basing it on.

Cheeble

I've a post pay account with a tag. Never had a problem, €2 each pass, regular as clockwork.

Would you rather go back to the toll plaza days with queues stretching from Blanchardstown to the Red Cow?

Cheeble-eers

Our man in Havana

I am so glad you never had a problem. Well thousands are affected by these issues that are not of their making. Not everyone wants a tag, many don't have the usage to justify a tag. Eflow are incompetent. Simples.

Would you rather go back to the toll plaza days with queues stretching from Blanchardstown to the Red Cow?

At least you knew where you stood then.

Cheeble

Bond-007 wrote: »

At least you knew where you stood then.

Somewhere between Red Cow and Blanch, for large chunks of my day, costing me hundreds of € a year.

Our man in Havana

I don't live in Dublin so my caring is rather limited.

I do care about this government quango ripping people off and trying to frighten people with court action.

h57xiucj2z946q

Im trying to register for an account at https://csc.eflow.ie/newaccount/newaccount.aspx but every time I enter my car plates half way down the page and click on the next piece of information to fill in, the page immediatly changes to:

We were unable to process your request for the following reason:
Error occurred. Please try again later.
Please Contact our customer service department at this location.
Contact: click here.

So I have contact them at the "Contact: click here." link above (http://erp5.eflow.ie/form_contact) with the problem and my details a few days ago. I haven't received a response yet. Do you think if I drive through the eFlow toll without paying, there will be the same delay before they issue me a fine? :D:D

Our man in Havana

Not a hope.

Their website is a joke. You would be better off to pay in a shop or register for a tag from the many other tag suppliers other than eflow.

daveyboy_1ie

Went through the toll on Stephens day last year but forgot to pay the toll the following day and paid the 3 euro and rang them explaining what I had done and knew it was my fault and how do i rectify it and would they take a credit card payment over the phone from me. they said all was fine and they would let me off this time.

Then got a letter 4 months later asking for €47.50. I rang them up explaining the situation and refused to pay the extra amount. The guy tells me that its a fine as i had not paid the original €3 fine and only the toll. i stuck to my guns and in fairness he gave me a one time oppurtunity to pay the extra €3 to clear the original fine.

So all in all i found them very good as although they told me there would be no fine and there was one sent, they still gave me the opportunity to rectify what was after all my mistake in the first place.

westtip

shamwari wrote: »

My wife used the M50 on several occasions earlier this year. She paid the tolls in our local convenience store and kept all of her receipts. Shortly thereafter, she received several demands from EFLOW to make good unpaid charges. Both my wife and I telephoned EFLOW twice and walked them through the sequence of charges and payments to indicate that everything was indeed paid. Despite this they persisted in issuing written demands for payment of these so-called "unpaid charges".

My wife then set out her position in writing in full to them and enclosed photocopies of the receipts. She stressed that we wanted them to explain clearly where they believed the non-payment existed, and that is was her firm belief that all charges has been paid, and that receipts proved this.

A week after this, she received a terse two-line reply which noted the continued non-payment and the matter had been passed to EFLOW's "legal department".

We look forward to having our day in court with this shower because their total ineptitude and total lack of diligence needs to be exposed for all to see. The maverick one-sided behaviour of these organisations needs to stop.

Good for you mate - just don't engage any further with them - you have all the evidence you need let them take you to court -and make sure you let a few journos know about it to. I can't wait till next time they screw up with me - I am just not going to engage when they start sending demands for unpaid (but actually paid tolls) and let them keep sending me letters till they summons me. We all get too uptight about solicitors letters and legal action - the facts are if you know you have paid, you have the evidence, just let them take you to court in the knowledge you will win. It will cost them a fortune and show their incompetence, they need to be hurt because they are incompetent. I wonder if they read these boards???

KevR

Bond-007 wrote: »

I do care about this government quango ripping people off and trying to frighten people with court action.

shamwari wrote: »

We look forward to having our day in court with this shower because their total ineptitude and total lack of diligence needs to be exposed for all to see. The maverick one-sided behaviour of these organisations needs to stop.

I find it amazing that the government can afford to be bringing people who have paid their tolls and have done nothing wrong to court at a time when cuts in Garda numbers are being considered and when they can't afford to build a new prison to tackle overcrowding and actually put/keep people who have committed crimes in jail.

Carawaystick

KevR wrote: »

I find it amazing that the government can afford to be bringing people who have paid their tolls and have done nothing wrong to court at a time when cuts in Garda numbers are being considered and when they can't afford to build a new prison to tackle overcrowding and actually put/keep people who have committed crimes in jail.

It's a civil action, and the NRA made almost a hundred million there last year...

The Nal

So, crossed the toll twice. Paid 6 quid but paid it late, didn’t know it was late, shouldve paid 12 quid. Thought that was it until 3 months later when a solicitors letter arrived in the door asking for €290 and a day in court last week!! So I called up the solicitors and told them what happened and that this was the first letter I received about it, which it was. They still said I had to go to court. I told them I wasn’t going to appear and that I’d pay the 6 quid or whatever but their not having any of it.

Anyway, I didn’t go to court and now their looking for more cash, not sure how much. The irony of the whole thing is they told me, that a few months after the original cock up, I paid 6 quid too much online, so now I have 6 Euro credit with them!! Surely that’s not legal? Taking overpayment and not telling the customer?

markpb

The Nal wrote: »

So, crossed the toll twice. Paid 6 quid but paid it late, didn’t know it was late, shouldve paid 12 quid.

Out of curiosity, did you pay in a shop or online?

The Nal

markpb wrote: »

Out of curiosity, did you pay in a shop or online?

Online, theres no debate about payment, just that it was late. I didnt receive any letters though, but they claim I did. I never signed for them! Wheres their proof?

markpb

The Nal wrote: »

Online, theres no debate about payment, just that it was late. I didnt receive any letters though, but they claim I did. I never signed for them! Wheres their proof?

I wasn't attacking you :-) I was just wondering if the shops should remind people that payments have to be made by 8pm the following day - it might stop a lot of hassle if they told people about the late fine.

The Nal

markpb wrote: »

I wasn't attacking you :-) I was just wondering if the shops should remind people that payments have to be made by 8pm the following day - it might stop a lot of hassle if they told people about the late fine.

I know your weren’t attacking me!! Anyway, what would be helpful too for everyone, would be if, when you put your car reg in online, it told you how much you owe, as opposed to having to guess what you owe. They owe me 6 euro, maybe I could sue them for that?

Mick41

I have just recieved solicitor letters looking for 152 euro from a crowd in Kerry. It dates back to problems I had with E-Flow last march-june. They claim 57 letters were sent to me yet I only started recieving the solicitor letters last week. Yet it says on my account zero transactions for each of these months. I did go throught the tool and tried to sort out the payments with eflow but they never came back to me after consistant calls and emails. They are a joke that we pay for and I have to go to court after made redundant 5 weeks ago to deal with this rubbish

The Nal

Mick41 wrote: »

I have just recieved solicitor letters looking for 152 euro from a crowd in Kerry. It dates back to problems I had with E-Flow last march-june. They claim 57 letters were sent to me yet I only started recieving the solicitor letters last week. Yet it says on my account zero transactions for each of these months. I did go throught the tool and tried to sort out the payments with eflow but they never came back to me after consistant calls and emails. They are a joke that we pay for and I have to go to court after made redundant 5 weeks ago to deal with this rubbish

I didnt go to the court date, you should call them and tell them you're not going.

They sent me a "your credit rating could be effected" etc etc. Load of bollox. Dont bother going is my advice.

BrianD3

I went through the toll twice last Saturday (1 x morning and 1x afternoon) didn't get a chance to pay by 8 pm te next day so waited for the standard toll request letter. This is the first time I've been late paying. Anyway got a letter, only one of my toll crossing was listed. I don't know if I should have gotten two letters (one for each crossing) or should both crossings have been listed on the one letter?

So I have paid the 6 quid that should have been 12 quid. I think I'll ring them to make sure that there are no outstanding charges for my reg. The system doesn't fill me with confidence.

The Nal

BrianD3 wrote: »

I went through the toll twice last Saturday (1 x morning and 1x afternoon) didn't get a chance to pay by 8 pm te next day so waited for the standard toll request letter. This is the first time I've been late paying. Anyway got a letter, only one of my toll crossing was listed. I don't know if I should have gotten two letters (one for each crossing) or should both crossings have been listed on the one letter?

So I have paid the 6 quid that should have been 12 quid. I think I'll ring them to make sure that there are no outstanding charges for my reg. The system doesn't fill me with confidence.

Exactly what happened to me mate, next communication I got was a summons from the solicitors!! Madness. The irony is, after this, I paid 12 quid when I should’ve paid 6, and never knew about it until the solicitors told me! I asked could they just not take the 6 quid they owe me and that would even out the account, seemed to make sense. But of course, that wouldn’t do.

I think we should all ignore them. It’s a pure money making scam, lack of communication. Like, can we not enter our reg into the system and then they tell us how much we owe? Is that not how a normal system works? Useless.